Greetings and welcome to the Elementary Spanish blog page for Southfield Christian School! I am so excited about starting another year with your students, there are many exciting things to be learned! As many of you probably remember from last year, your students will not only be learning fun songs, holidays, and vocabulary in Spanish, they will also be learning about the Spanish-speaking world and how to memorize God’s Word too!

“Learning a Language, Building Character, Changing the World” – This year’s Spanish motto encompasses exactly why I love and teach Spanish. It’s not only about academics and the ability to learn and know a new language…it is what one does with that knowledge to further God’s kingdom. In the Spanish program at SCS we will discuss what it means to be a servant in Christ’s kingdom by learning a new language. We will dig deep to learn the ways of life in Spanish-speaking countries (South America this year!), and we will do what God calls us to do and pray for those people. We will also continue our endeavors in learning God’s word in Spanish by learning gestures to help remember the words.

It is really important that you as parents are encouraging your students as they learn the language. Seeing students for only 40 minutes each week is not enough for them to become fluent, and that’s okay; however, if you are encouraging them in their pursuit of language-learning, they will be ever-more excited about learning! Please know and understand that this is not an immersion program and therefore your student will not be fluent after fifth grade. This is an exposure program and our goal and purpose is to get students excited about the language and ignite a desire to continue with language-learning in the future.

Many of you may be asking what will be posted on this blog: lots of fun things! This blog will be for Kindergarten through fifth grade Spanish and will include the monthly country we are studying, the bi-weekly Bible verse (in Spanish and English), pictures, and the content that we are learning in class! I encourage you to check this site often – in an effort to decrease the use of paper and ink, I will not be sending home the Bible verses on paper, but will be posting everything to this site.

If you have ANY questions about Spanish language-learning or you would like any tips on how to practice at home, please feel free to contact me! I am excited to spend another year getting to know your students and showing them how God can use another language to change the world.

My prayer for you and your family is that you are encouraged and joyful by and in the Holy Spirit as we begin a new school year!